About Me — Viola Geena

Photo provided by author

Hello, fellow Medium members! My name is Geena. I am a 27-year-old Canadian professional musician. Currently, I am a section violist in a symphony orchestra. When I’m not practicing, I can be found playing Animal Crossing or learning a new language. As a Canadian, I am always looking for ways to improve my French. I have also taken an interest in Spanish and Italian this past year.

My musical journey began at the age of six when my parents put me in violin lessons. As time went on, I wanted to learn other instruments. I began piano lessons at the age of nine. Later, I took up the flute and tenor saxophone in the school band program.

I discovered the viola at the age of thirteen. During a violin lesson, I expressed interest to my teacher at the time about joining the local youth orchestra. He suggested I join as a violist. At that point in my life, the only thing I knew about the viola was that countless jokes were written about the instrument. I was skeptical but still wanted to give it a chance.

After a few years of playing the viola, I knew it was my true calling and never looked back. Over the course of my life, I had only ever played popular instruments. It was a breath of fresh air to give a voice to an uncommon instrument and discover the hidden gems of the viola solo repertoire. After I graduated high school, I pursued a Bachelor of Music, a…